Safety suspending apparatus for elevators or the like.



N0.'7U7,4|0. Patefited Aug. l9, I902.

v R. HAINSWORTH. SAFETY SUSPENDING APPARATUS FOR ELEVATORS OR THE LIKE.

Application filed Apr. 29, 1902.)

2 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

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Patented Aug. I9, I902. B. HAINSWORTH. V SAFETY SUSPENDING APPARATUS FORELEVATORS OR THE LIKE.

(Application filed Apr. 29, 1902.)

(No Model.)

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ROBINSON l-IAINSWVORTH, OF HULL, ENGLAND.

SAFETY SUSPENDING APPARATUS FOR ELEVATORS OR THE LIKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 707,410, dated August19, 1902. Application filed April 29, 1902- Serial No. 105,244. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that LROBINSON HAINSWORTH, engineer, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain, residing at 21 Victoria street, Hull, England, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Safety Suspending Apparatus forElevators or the Like, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improved safetycatch gear for mine and liftcages, skips, and the like, whereby to more effectually prevent the cagefalling in the event of breakage of the hoisting-rope, the safety-gearbeing so designed that immediately the tension of the rope ceases toretain the said gear out of action the safety-catches will be caused tobind against the guides with so powerful a grip as to prevent anyappreciable fall of the cage, which will be securely supported atwhatever height it may happen to be when the breakage occurs.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 isa front elevation showing the safety apparatus in the normal inoperativeposition. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the upper part of the cage,showing the safety apparatus in action. Fig. 3 is a plan view of thesafety apparatus. Figs. 4 and 5 are detail sections on lines a 4 and 55, Fig. 2, respectively.

The hoisting-rope is connected to the cage through the medium of a pairof toggle-levers A A, formed of bars preferablyof T-section, whose innerends are jointed together upon a common joint-pin B, to the ends ofwhich the shackle-link O for the attachment of the hoisting-rope O isconnected. The outer ends of the toggle-levers terminate in dogs orshoes D, serrated so as to be adapted to embed in and jam against thefaces of the cage-guides E when the toggle-levers are permitted to comeinto action, such dogs being, however, normally held out of contact withthe guides by the tension of the hoistingrope. These toggle-levers arefulcrumed on the top cross-beam F of the cage-frame by a pair ofradius-links G, through the medium of which the weight of the cage istransmitted to the toggle-bars and the rope. A spring or springs H wouldbe applied to act upon the toggle-levers A so as to tend to bring thetoggles and their dogs into operative position, the power of the springsbeing normally overcome by the tension on the hoisting-rope consequenton the weight of the cage. In this position the toggle-levers A A arecaused to assume an angular position relatively to each other in theform of a wide or obtuse-angled inverted V, as shown in Fig. 1, theupward motion of their inner ends being limited by their outer armsbeyond the fulcrum-links G G coming in their downward and retractilemovement against abutments 1 upon the top cross-beam F ofthe cage-frame,this action being assisted by the inner or rear faces at of the dogs Dbeing of such form as to engage the outer edges of the fulcrum-links G.

The cage-frame is provided with guide runners or shoes J, which embraceand travel upon the guides E. .These runners extend the whole height ofthe cage-frame in two sections, their upper sections J being permanentlyfixed to the ends of the top cross-beam F, the lower sections, togetherwith the body part of the cage, being capable of disconnection, so as toleave only the top cross-beam F and the attached sections J'of therunners connected to the safety apparatus and hoisting-rope. When it isrequired to lower down the mine-shaft parts of heavy machinery or otherarticles not adapted for conveyance in the cage, such articles would beslung from the cross-beam F instead of directly from the rope, as isusual when the cage is Wholly disconnected therefrom, the connections ofthe sling with the cross-beam being equidistant from and near to theends of the cross-beam, as indicated in dotted lines at F, Fig. 1.

In order to prevent the various pivotal joints of the apparatus frombinding and so avoid one cause of failure of the safety-gear to act inthe event of the rope breaking, the center pin B and the joint-pins g gof the links G have upon them steelsleeves which fit loosely in theholes, but tightly on the pins, the length of the sleeve in each caseslightly exceeding the conjoined thickness of the members to beconnected, as shown at g in Fig. 4, or the pins B 9 g are made ofincreased diameter Where they pass through the members which theyconnect, each pin having shoulders at a distance apart slightly greaterthan the conjoined thickness of those members as shown in Fig. 5. Bythese means the clearance necessary for freedom of working of the movingparts is insured.

The inner ends of the toggle-levers A, which are jointed together on thepin 13, are in the form of overlapping or intersecting tenons, therounded ends 0t of which are preferably fitted to bear (with a minimumamount of friction) each against correspondingly-concaved abutments onthe other lever, so that the sudden stress consequent on the togglescoming into action will be borne mainly by the ends of the levers andtheir abutments and will not come wholly on the joint-pin B, as wouldotherwise be the case.

The fulcrum-links G, which connect the toggle-levers A to the cross-beamF, are preferably made each of a pair of members acting as one andjointed to the levers A and the cross-beam F by joint-pins g g,respectively, these pins being sleeved or shouldered, as abovedescribed.

To protect the occupants of the cage from wet and from objects fallingdown the shaft, a removable roof is provided formed of two overlappingsections K, hinged or otherwise fixed upon the toggle-levers A, so asWhile partaking of any movement of the toggles to avoid interfering withthe play of the latter.

The dogs D may be made in one with the toggle-levers A, but arepreferably formed of steel blocks bolted to the levers, the outer endsof the dogs being beveled to a V form, so as to present a comparativelynarrow acting face and combine great strength of resistance to endthrust with the necessary penetrative power, the serrated acting faces dbeing formed with series of acute pyramidal teeth adapted to be causedunder the outward thrust of the toggles to penetrate the faces of thewooden guides E, upon which the cage-runners J work.

When in consequence of the hoisting-rope breaking the springs H are freeto act, the toggle-levers A under the stress of the springs H tend todepart from their relative angular position shown in Fig. l and tostraighten out in line with each other, as shown in Fig. 2, whichmovement has the effect of moving the dogs D outward and of forcingtheir serrated acting portions d into contact with the guides E withsuch pressure as to cause the serrations to penetrate the guides. Assoon as such contact of the dogs with the guides occurs the descent ofthe dogs D along the guides is thereby checked, and the weight of thecage acting on the toggles A through the medium of the fulcrum-links Gat once reinforces the action of the springs H, the force tending tostraighten the toggles being thereby so augmented as to cause the dogs Dto press still more forcibly against the guides until their teeth dbecome completely embedded therein. Should the breakage of the ropeoccur While the cage is ascending, the result will be that all downwardmotion of the cage will be at once arrested, while in the event of therope breaking during the descent of the cage at a high speed the teeth dof the dogs will bite into and rip the faces of the guides E, and thecage, notwithstanding the powerful gripping action of the toggles, willthus be brought to rest gradually and without the sudden shock whichwould otherwise be caused by the too-sudden arrest of the cage. It is tobe observed that the position of greatest grip is reached when the axisof the pin B descends to the level of the horizontal line drawn throughthe fulcrum-pins g of the toggle-levers A, beyond which position the pinB is prevented from passing by shoulders m on the upper side of thelevers A butting together in the manner of a knee-joint. Stops, such as12, may also be provided on the crossbeam F and levers A to coact withthe shoulders m in preventing the pin B from descending below the commonhorizontal line of centers of the levers and so to relieve the pin 13 ofcross strain.

I claim- A safety apparatus for mine and lift cages, skips and the like,consisting of a pair of toggle-levers in angular relation to each other,united by a common pivotal joint connected to the hoisting-rope, andterminating at their outer ends in dogs of V form with narrowpyramidally-toothed acting faces in immediate proximity to the faces ofthe cage-guides, in combination with a cross-beam, pairs ofconnecting-links pivoted to the toggle-levers and to the cross-beam,springs connected to the cross-beam and applied to act on thetoggle-levers in opposition to the pull of the hoisting-rope, so as totend to straighten the toggle-levers and cause their acting faces to bethrust into forcible contact with the cageguides, abutments on thecrossbeam and stops on the levers coacting with the connecting-links tolimit the normal angular relation of the toggle-levers under the pull ofthe rope, and a stop to prevent the descent of the common pivotal axisof the toggle-levers below the common line of centers of those levers,substantially as herein described.

ROBINSON I-IAINSWORTH.

Witnesses:

' '1. W. KENNARD,

M. R, SPIER.

ITO

